Hell Is Other People
by nonsensewriter
Summary: When a threat is put on their lives, Elena decides that it's time for her and her friends to return home. Role reversal. AU.
1. Chapter 1

Elena Gilbert stands on the edge of the bluffs looking at the town below her and sighs. She never thought that she'd see this place again and she can't say that she's missed it. The people of this town made it clear that her kind was no longer welcome. Not that she could blame them. But despite their protests, this was her home and if she felt like coming back she would do just that. It wasn't like they could do anything to her, well with the exception of one family, which led her to why she was even back here in the first place. But she couldn't start until she had her's at her side and her patience was running thin. She's just about to remove her phone from her pocket to call them, only to stop when she sees a tiny frame appear in her peripheral tucking a strand of black hair behind their ear.

"You don't seem excited to be here." Elena states when they remain silent.

"I'm not, this place is hell."

Elena looks down trying to fight the tug that pulls at the corner of her lips. They've walked this earth for over a millennium and they've managed to keep the same cynic outlook. Yet she can't bring herself to disagree with their assessment.

"Be that as it may, it's home."

"So you rung the alarm for a family reunion?" They question as they finally turn to face Elena having grown tired of staring at the seemingly normal town below them.

Elena turns to face them at the same time and is slightly taken back at the sight she's greeted with. Gone is the girl that hid under petticoats and loose fitting clothes. In her place, stands a girl in a cropped leather jacket over a black mesh body suit, black jeans fitting her like a second skin paired with snakeskin high heeled boots. Dark makeup putting her green eyes on full display. But as soon as she sees the smirk on her friend's face at her reaction to her appearance, Elena forces her features to go back to a neutral expression.

"Not exactly."

"Oh?" Bonnie Bennett raises an eyebrow, forcing her features to mirror the same stoic expression Elena is currently maintaining. Though a smile graces her features when the newest arrival makes their presence known.

"Whatever the reason we're here better be worth it."

Elena lets out a long breath and turns towards the source of the voice watching as a tall, slim silhouette emerges from behind the trees. Long blonde waves brushing the left side of her face from the sudden breeze, causing a slight frown to grace her features as she removes the stray hairs that stick to her lips.

"Caroline," Elena turns to address the latest arrival who is currently scowling at the leaf she just picked out of her hair, tossing it over her shoulder before she turns her gaze to Elena making it clear that she's not pleased with the brunette's choice of venue.

"Eleanor," Caroline mimics the tone that Elena greets her with before walking over to stand by Bonnie, the two holding a silent conversation that ends in wide grins before turning back to Elena who frowns at their exchange. As far as Elena knew they had all fell out of contact with each other, but it looks like she was wrong.

"So," Caroline starts when she sees the brunette's lip part, effectively stopping Elena from whatever she was going to say "is this a girls only trip or did you tug on your puppies' leashes?"

"Considering that you're here just as much as I am, do you really want to call names Care Bear?" Damon frowns making his way to join the three on the bluffs, blinking when he sees Bonnie. Who gives him a brief nod of acknowledgement before tensing, a scowl settling on her features when she sees his brother standing beside her, which throws him off. She had never really made her feelings towards his brother known. Not even in his Ripper binges. Though she was the only person that didn't walk on eggshells around him.

"Now that we're all present," Caroline starts making a point of ignoring Damon after seeing that Stefan is currently at Bonnie's side, returning the smile he greets her with before turning her gaze to her shoes to hide her amusement at the groan he makes once Bonnie breaks the hand that he placed on her hip pulling her closer into him "can you tell us why we've been summoned back here?"

"You mean we're not back here for a little family reunion?" Damon questions sardonically, frowning when Caroline once again shows no reaction to him. He starts to ask her what her problem is but he's stopped when Elena opens her mouth to answer his question.

"Unfortunately not." Elena responds, raising an eyebrow when she sees Stefan cradle the hand that Bonnie just broke, wondering what that was all about. A frown settling on her features when she realizes that Damon's words mirror Bonnie's from earlier even more so when she notices that the four of them are standing side by side across from her. Though considering the last time that she had spoken to any of them she can't exactly blame them for their hostility.

"We're not getting any younger Lena." Caroline snaps tired of her dragging this out. They had all made a pact to never come back here, so whatever the reason they were breaking it couldn't be good.

"And we won't be getting any older if the Mikaelsons have anything to say about it either."

Elena watches as they all take in her statement, their expressions ranging from disbelief to confusion. And unsurprisingly Caroline is the one to break the silence that falls over them.

"What? No." Caroline frowns "The Mikaelsons were unfortunate enough to fall victim to Stefan when you sent him off the deep end by opening your legs for his brother."

Elena purses her lips and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear,

"Must you be so-"

"Elena," Bonnie steps in not wanting to hear them argue "if what you're saying is true then we really don't have the time for this. Just tell us why you need all of us to be here."

"I thought that this was something that we should all handle together."

"You say it like we make such a great team." Damon retorts, making it clear that he disagrees. Ignoring the baffled looks he's getting from the three to his left.

"I hate to say it but I agree with Damon." Bonnie says tentatively after getting over her brief stupor "We don't handle things the same way. And if they're trying to kill us then you're going to try to make peace, and we all know Damon is too trigger happy for that. One word out of line from them and he'll try to snap their necks and or rip their hearts out. I know better than to go after a family of witches. Caroline is going to want to be civil...at best. And it seems like Stefan is in his weird metaphorical hybrid stage, so he's to much of a wild card for my liking at the moment. So," Bonnie takes a step back "pick your partner and let's just all go our separate ways. I don't know why you thought getting us all together to go after them was a good idea anyway."

"That's exactly why I need you here with me." Elena says holding Bonnie's gaze.

Bonnie rolls her eyes and folds her arms over her chest clearly not impressed by Elena's reasoning when she goes on to point out how she's the only one that they all actually listen to.

"Bonnie," Caroline starts after catching the brief flash of sadness in Elena's eyes when Bonnie doesn't seem to be wavering in her decision despite the brunette's pleading, which throws her off considering that Bonnie was always the first to give in, waiting until she meets her gaze "maybe, we should. It has been a while since we all...dealt with each other. And who knows, these might be our final days."

"All the more reason to leave and get on the first plane to the Caribbean. If these are our final days then we should spend them on a beach in ridiculously expensive bikinis ogling shirtless guys while we sip on whatever alcoholic drinks we can get our hands on. Not going against a family of witches that can actually kill us with the person that is responsible for the threat on our lives in the first place. No offense Stefan." Bonnie adds turning her head slightly to glance at him.

"Look who finally got that stick out of their ass." Damon smiles walking around Caroline to stand behind Bonnie who tenses "And from the looks of it they've been getting-"

Bonnie frowns and speeds to stand behind him breaking his back before he gets the chance to finish his sentence, sighing in satisfaction when she hears his bones crack letting him drop to the ground.

"But I'm the wild card." Stefan comments under his breath watching in amusement as Bonnie casually shifts her gaze back towards the town below them, both Caroline and Elena following suit instead of acknowledging that they all just essentially witnessed a murder. He could understand why Bonnie and Caroline didn't seem to care but Elena's non reaction leaves him taken back. Damon had mentioned that they weren't exactly on speaking terms but he didn't give him the reason. He hadn't exactly cared to ask but after seeing how Elena doesn't seemed the least bit fazed leaves him wondering what happened.

"So, we're doing this?" Stefan asks looking at Caroline, Bonnie and Elena waiting for confirmation.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Caroline sighs after Bonnie shrugs with a bored expression on her face when they look at each other.

"I'm assuming you have a plan." Bonnie turns her attention back to Elena ignoring the hopeful look in her eyes.

"We're going to blend in." Elena replies.

"Your plan is to try to fool a family full of witches?" Caroline looks at her in disbelief.

"No, we're just going to show them that we're not as bad as-"

"In the eyes of a witch there is nothing worse than a vampire." Bonnie cuts her off "We're abominations, some more than others. So if you don't have a Plan B I would suggest that you get to work on it, because this isn't going to go our way if you don't come up with something other than trying to make it seem like the halo over your head isn't held up by horns." She advises turning her back to the brunette.

"Bon," Elena sighs turning to keep her friend in her line of sight "where are you going?"

"To get a drink, I'm going to need one if we're seriously going to entertain this suicide mission." She answers, jumping off of the cliff before anyone can respond.

"Either Bonnie's flipped her switch or someone's been wearing her out." Caroline smiles when Elena looks at her clearly wanting an explanation, glancing at Stefan at the latter of her response.

Stefan smirks at Caroline as he strolls to the edge of the cliff, tilting his head in the direction of Mystic Falls waiting until she's at his side before turning to Elena "Not it." He smiles.

"I'm not touching him." Caroline states jumping off of the cliff along with Stefan.

Elena sighs and walks over to Damon's still form, bending over to pick him up, throwing him over her shoulder. Taking a deep breath before following Bonnie's lead. Hoping that for _once_ , that Bonnie is wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

Rebekah and Kol Mikaelson study them from afar. Watching intently as Elena, Bonnie, Caroline and Stefan all turn the corner before walking outside claiming the center table in the quad as per usual.

"They don't seem to be hurting anyone. I'm not seeing the issue." Kol states when they do nothing but sit down and start to talk among themselves.

"That's exactly the problem, Kol." Rebekah states. They had been here for a month and they had done absolutely nothing. She had heard of no missing people, no reports of homicides ruled as 'animal attacks' as the town liked to call them, nothing. Since they arrived they had been the picture perfect example of new kids that had all banded together despite multiple attempts from outsiders at trying to get their attention. So far only the blonde haired girl had taken the bait but for the most part stuck with the others. Even though they seemed to do nothing out of the ordinary, it was still putting her on edge. She was tired of waiting, it was starting to drive her insane.

"I'm not following."

"They're trying to deceive us."

"Sounds like you've been spending too much time with Nik." Kol teases, grinning when Rebekah cuts her eyes at him "Are you sure that's even them?" he asks, despite sensing that they were in fact vampires "You have to admit that they don't exactly match up to the stories." Kol points out, watching as the boy with light brown hair and grayish green eyes who his sister identified as Stefan Salvatore smiles down at a girl with caramel hued skin and bright green eyes, who she claimed was Bonnie―which he seriously doubted, next to Stefan, she was supposedly the one that was deemed as the most dangerous by those who had crossed the Originals' paths and lived―as she laughs at something he whispers into her ear while the other two girls look at them in faux disgust before turning to each other starting their own conversation. And even they didn't look the least bit threatening.

"No that's them." Rebekah says as if she's never been more sure of anything in her life "See those two right there?"

Kol nods after following the direction to where she's pointing her finger to Bonnie and then to the blonde next to the brunette with doe eyes.

"Those are the hybrids."

"There's two?" As far as he knew, there was only one. Granted he didn't get very far in his research, with spells being forced down his throat by his aunt and older sister he didn't have much free time anymore.

"One half werewolf. The other half witch." Rebekah states.

"Bekah that's impossible." Kol says turning to look at his sister giving her a look.

"Not impossible at all." A third voice joins them.

Rebekah tenses and turns around to see both Elena and Stefan staring back at her, as if they were merely coming over to her to say "Hello.". She immediately looks to her left and starts to panic when she no longer sees her brother at her side, her heart dropping when she looks back to the table seeing that it's abandoned, as if no one was ever there at all.

"We never got to officially meet." the brunette says in a calm, even tone "I'm Elena Gilbert."

Rebekah turns back around and sees that Elena has her hand extended towards her waiting for her to take it, looking affronted when she makes no effort to do so.

"Where's my brother you little-"

"How about we hold off on the name calling and just fake pleasantries until we're in a more private setting?" Elena cuts her off leaving her hand suspended in the air, a smile gracing her features when Rebekah finally takes it.

"Stefan Salvatore." Stefan decides to just nod out his greeting after noticing that Rebekah has started to shake. Leaving him to figure that Elena has just handed over a background check to the girl without knowing, not wanting to cause anymore damage to her nerves.

"I'm-"

"Rebekah Mikaelson. The only girl." Elena adds seeing the question in her eyes "With the exception of your older sister, Freya. Flighty little thing." she mutters under her breath, not bothering to point out that she knows that Rebekah is fully aware of who she and her friends are "Don't worry, nothing will happen to your brother. Bonnie has a soft spot for warlocks. And since she and Caroline manage to keep each other in check, I thought it'd be best if we let them keep watch over him. I hear he's a bit of a smart ass."

Rebekah smiles before sobering remembering the nature of Elena's observation.

"I think that it's time that we all officially meet, so we'll be waiting at the edge of the old Lockwood property." Elena informs walking around the young witch "Please bring your brothers as well." She requests over her shoulder continuing to make her way across the quad towards the parking lot.

Rebekah forces herself to take a deep breath before she turns back around to face Stefan, knowing that he hasn't made his exit yet.

"I know this probably won't make a difference, but I am sorry about your mother. I heard that you two were close."

"So it's true."

Stefan looks down "Not my finest moment or my proudest but...yes. I know that you will want closure or revenge so I'll grant you that. I won't even try to defend myself."

Rebekah narrows her eyes.

"No catch." he shakes his head seeing the question in her eyes "If anyone should have the honor of killing me, it's you." He holds her gaze so she can tell that he's being genuine, after seeing that she finally believes him he bows his head and starts to walk around her in the direction of the brunette stopping when she calls after him.

"Why?"

"I'll explain if you take us up on our offer." And with that he speeds away, not wanting to give her a chance to ask what he's talking about. Mainly because he doesn't even know. Elena had told them little to nothing about how she planned to approach their situation.

Rebekah frowns and takes several steps forward looking around for him before sighing and pulling her phone out of her bag to call her brothers. The last thing she wanted to do was follow orders but she didn't exactly have a choice in the matter considering the current circumstances.

* * *

"He's kind of cute."

"Caroline, he's a child."

"Bonnie we're old as dirt. Who isn't a child compared to us?" Caroline retorts tired of that argument.

Bonnie tries to fight her laugh but fails and looks back to the boy that is slowly regaining consciousness.

"Well, when you're right, you're right." Bonnie shrugs, rolling her eyes when Caroline grins. Watching on in approval when the first thing he does upon regaining awareness is lift his hand, and when that doesn't work he starts to recite a spell that even she's quite fond of. Leaving her impressed at the fact that he even knew the spell.

"And smart." Bonnie adds walking over to where he's currently lying "That spell is centuries old, how do you-"

"For situations like this." He cuts her off, looking down at his body when he realizes that he's not tied up or anything and he immediately looks up at them, confusion present in his eyes. Feeling dread wash over him when he feels his magick but no matter how hard he tries, he can't tap into it.

"I wanted to tie you up but she wouldn't let me." Caroline answers his unvocalized question though tilts her head when she sees that it does nothing but make him smile despite the fear she can feel radiating off of him.

"What?" Caroline frowns when she turns to Bonnie to see her friend staring at her with a look between amusement and scolding **.**

"Not too big on tact," Kol comments turning his gaze to Bonnie "is she?"

"Not at all." Bonnie confirms with a smile.

Kol frowns when the two vampires suddenly look at each other, the blonde one speeding away while Bonnie looks down at him a contrite look on her face.

"Relax," She smiles seeing the wariness in his eyes, raising her hands taking a deep breath before lowering them and experimentally extending her right hand leaning forward until she hits an invisible barrier.

Kol blinks "So my sister hasn't lost her mind."

Bonnie smiles "Before you get any ideas, I was an abomination before I was this." she motions towards her body "This just made it worse."

Kol studies her curiously but before he can ask what she means she's gone.

* * *

"So, how did it go?"

"Bonnie was right, as usual." Elena admits a bit reluctantly.

"Speaking of Bonnie," Stefan starts remembering Elena's comment about her soft spot for warlocks earlier "where is she?"

Both Caroline and Elena turn to look at Stefan.

"Are you and Bonnie…" Elena trails off, feeling an emotion she can't quite put a name to when he looks away.

Caroline smiles, no wonder they were a bit to good at playing boyfriend, girlfriend. Speaking of girlfriend…

"Why didn't you tell me?" Caroline frowns turning to face Bonnie when she finally comes to join them outside.

"Tell you what?" Bonnie asks, confused by her question.

"About you and Stefan."

"Me and Stefan?" Bonnie's eyebrows knit together "What about me and Stefan?"

"That you two were-"

Bonnie slaps her hand over the blonde's mouth as realization dawns on her and turns to face the vampire in question who raises his hands and takes a step back.

"There is no me and Stefan, there _was_ a me and Stefan like two hundred years ago."

"Yeah," Stefan agrees dryly "and then there was a you and Stefan two weeks ago."

Bonnie rolls her eyes and looks at Caroline promising that they'll talk later to which Caroline nods though she was already aware due to her recent check in with the younger Salvatore before they were both summoned back to this hell hole, all ignoring the looks of anger they're getting from Elena. Honestly, what did she expect? She had basically burned her bridges with them centuries ago. They saw no point in continuing to honor their loyalty to her, beside her one chance at "ringing the alarm" and this was it.

"Wait a minute," Damon grins walking up to join them having caught the end of their conversation "you went to Stefan before you came to me?"

"Damon you say it like you were even an option." Stefan comments before he can stop himself.

"Ouch," Caroline smiles.

Damon starts to say something but before he can even get a word out he's suddenly clutching his head feeling his eyes roll into the back of his head, groans of pure agony falling from his lips.

Caroline and Bonnie look on in confusion as Stefan and Elena go down in the same way, looking up at each other wordlessly moving until their side by side.

"A little extra, but whatever." Caroline comments turning to watch Rebekah along with three men walking towards them with their hands extended with the exception of one, frowns on their faces until they turn into looks of confusion of their own.

"Looks like they haven't done their research." Bonnie sighs keeping her eyes on the Mikaelsons.

"In their defense, we keep to ourselves for the most part. It's the trinity of doom that has given us a bad reputation." Caroline points out.

"Fair enough." Bonnie concedes though she knows that they all have a part in the reputations they've made for themselves in the Supernatural world, waiting for someone to speak up, running her hand through her hair when Rebekah raises her hands again looking at them with a perplexed look on her face when nothing happens.

"Now if nothing happened the first time, what makes you think something would happen now?" Caroline frowns.

Bonnie turns to her friend and gives her an exasperated look to which she rolls her eyes and folds her arms over her chest but otherwise remains silent. For the time being.

"You'll have to excuse her, she's not too big on holding her tongue."

"Clearly," Rebekah says despite being fully aware of this already holding the blonde's stare, shifting on her feet when Caroline looks at her as if she's impressed.

"We came, now just tell us what you want."

"All in due time." Caroline smiles, "Well you put the one that probably knows who's who to sleep. So you're going to have to introduce yourselves." She states looking at the men standing beside their sister expectantly.

"Well with a mouth like that, you must be Caroline." One of them speaks up after observing the two before him, remembering his sister's constant complaining of one of them always having something to say.

Caroline frowns turning her gaze to the source of that comment seeing a tall man with blonde hair and the reddest lips she's ever seen in the shape of Cupid's bow, "And you must be stupid." She counters, smirking when his lips go into a straight line. She briefly flits her gaze to Bonnie, which she quickly finds to be a mistake considering the grin she has on her face.

"What's so funny?" Rebekah nearly growls seeing the grin on Bonnie's face.

"You obviously don't want to be here, but you're the reason that this is going to be dragged out." Bonnie replies not missing a beat.

"And how do you figure that?"

"Elena," Bonnie glances down at the brunette's still form "has decided to take the lead on this suicide mission. And since I'm only here because Caroline asked, I don't know how this was supposed to go. Do you?"

"No," Rebekah mutters reluctantly, wondering why _this_ of all times is when her brothers decide to stay silent. At this point she figures that she should have just done this herself...at least until she sees Bonnie move from her previous spot.

After Rebekah's admission, Bonnie nods and walks over to Elena and tentatively places her foot on her friend's body grimacing when she starts to take the effects of the Mikaelson's spell away from her still form. Gasping at how hard it hits her. Though she forces herself to remain still.

"Bon?" Caroline steps forward.

"I'm fine." Bonnie answers leaving her eyes closed her to control the magick she's just absorbed, waiting until she sees Elena open her eyes before going over to do the same to both Damon and Stefan. When she's done she looks back up to see the Mikaelsons staring at her in shock and she slides her hands in the pockets of her coat, casting her eyes down to the ground as she walks to stand by Caroline who only looks away from her when she nods, silently assuring her that she's fine.

"What…" Rebekah trails off "How did you..."

"I'm a different kind of monster." Bonnie answers Rebekah's question with a half hearted smile.

"How long were we out?" Elena asks groggily.

"Five minutes, maybe less." Caroline shrugs.

Elena nods, though she can tell Caroline isn't really paying attention to her.

"Well go on then." Rebekah says to Elena though she keeps her eyes on Bonnie.

"Where's the boy?" Elena asks noticing that Kol is nowhere to be seen.

Bonnie waves her hand removing the barrier keeping the warlock inside of the cell and turns back towards the stairs watching as Kol slowly makes his way up the stairs attempting to go to his family but is stopped by an invisible barrier, to which he smiles and nods at Bonnie who does the same. Much to Stefan's and the Mikaelson's chagrin.

"Bonnie, tit for tat."

"Except there hasn't been a tit." Bonnie states seeing how Elena's attempting to approach the situation and she can already see how it will end "I get what you're trying to do Elena but as soon as we give up Kol, they'll take him and run. You want to make peace, but you went about it the wrong way. Name one partnership that has worked well by taking a loved one hostage. Just one." Bonnie waits and nods when Elena looks away "Exactly so here's what we're going to do." Bonnie takes a step forward "I know that if you didn't have your own issues with us before, you do now. But I know just as well as you that the _real_ issue lies with Dahlia and Freya. Because with the exception of Rebekah and possibly Finn none of you actually give a damn about Mikael or Esther. And considering that Stefan spared you, you would just be going after us because you all feel as though you should avenge their deaths for purely superficial reasons. Because as far as you all are concerned, it's only about each other's well being." Bonnie pauses "Am I wrong?" She raises an eyebrow as she looks at each of the Mikaelsons waiting for one of them to respond.

"No, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head there, Darling." Kol smiles taking it upon himself to answer her question from behind the barrier, watching as Bonnie raises her hand until it's on Stefan's chest to keep him from moving any closer to the warlock.

"So what then? You're going to keep Kol if we don't keep up this charade?" Rebekah frowns.

"Of course not," Bonnie shakes her head, dropping the barrier "I merely wanted confirmation. I'll see you at school."

"Bonnie,"

Bonnie stops and turns to Rebekah.

"I don't understand, why-"

"Like I said, I'll see you at school." Bonnie looks at her, raising an eyebrow when Kol suddenly appears at her side motioning for her to go first.

"I essentially just kidnapped you and you're trying to stay around me instead of going to the people that came to save you. I'm sure that there's a term for this and it's not exactly a good one or seen in a positive light."

"You hardly kidnapped me, we were barely together for an hour and you didn't even threaten me."

Bonnie narrows her eyes "What is it that you want Kol?"

"You know my name." He says as a smile slowly spreads across his lips.

"I heard Rebekah say your name while you two were watching us. Don't try to find something where there is nothing."

"Ouch." He scoffs.

"You're cute but I don't go after children."

"I'm not a child."

"Compared to me you are."

"Years lived, yes. But not biologically."

"And how would you know that?"

"I'm twenty one and if my research is correct, with the exception of one of the Salvatores you're all seventeen. So if anyone could be considered a predator between the two of us, it's me."

Bonnie folds her lips finding his rebuttal entertaining "Okay but...I'm sure you've noticed my friend over there and I'm even more sure that you're perfectly aware that he would have ripped you to shreds if not for the shield I've put up, and you're still insisting on trying to take me out?"

"Who said anything about a date?"

Bonnie looks up at him for a moment then looks away when she sees the amusement in his eyes.

"Goodbye Kol," Bonnie grins walking away from him.

* * *

An hour later Bonnie finds herself lying on the couch listening as Elena complains about her going off script. While Caroline, Stefan and Damon are occupying arm chairs littered throughout the living room of the mansion Elena apparently had refurbished for their stay in Mystic Falls, half listening to the words coming out of the brunette's mouth as she paces back and forth until she's suddenly not. And they all turn their heads to her wondering what happened.

"Well?"

"Elena, it's like I said. There was no way that they would have cooperated based on the way you started. Besides, don't you think that they'll respond more to someone that they share something in common with than someone they don't?"

Elena huffs.

"And on that note I say we send Caroline to spend time with the half bred." Damon adds.

"Excuse me?" Caroline scowls at him.

"Bonnie has her witchy side and you're the only she wolf among us, so why not?"

Caroline looks at him incredulously, feeling a wave of rage wash over her at the next words that pass his lips.

"Don't act like the thought never crossed your mind, I saw the bedroom eyes you were giving him." Damon smirks.

Elena pinches the bridge between her nose and sighs, waiting for the blowup but to her surprise it doesn't come. Instead when she looks to the blonde she sees that she's not even looking at Damon while he is looking just as confused as she feels. Until Caroline suddenly leaps up from her chair and sinks her fangs into Damon's neck. Spitting Damon's blood out of her mouth as if it tasted like battery acid.

"Caroline-"

"He of all people does not get to say anything about the people I chose to spend my time with, and neither do you. Nor do you get to act like I'm over reacting when in reality I should have driven a stake through his heart years ago."

"Like you didn't try." Damon gargles out, his hand covering his wound.

"Yeah," Caroline smiles "and you'll be forced to see why I should have gone through with it for the next twenty eight hours reliving all the 'highlights' of your sad pathetic life." Caroline fires back "And then when you're done you should grovel at your brother's feet considering he's the reason you're even sitting there." She throws out over her shoulder as she picks up her coat, slipping it on as she heads towards the front door.

"I wouldn't even know where to start." Elena admits when Bonnie looks at her expectantly.

"That's exactly the problem. I know that you thought you could use this as a way to mend your relationships with us but we're not the same people we were when you last talked to us. Especially Caroline, and I think that that's for the best. But if you really want my honest advice, Caroline is the one that you need to go after first, after her, it's really up to you." Bonnie says getting up from her seat on the couch. Sighing when she sees Stefan fall into step with her.

"I get that you're the possessive type but I really don't need this right now." Bonnie stops and turns to face him when she's high enough on the stairs to give them an even height.

"Why? Because of Kol?"

"No, not because of Kol, because I value space."

"That's not how I remember it."

"Stefan, I'm serious."

"You push me away like I'm some mortal. Like I'm someone that you're going to have to watch grow old and then leave you. I'm just as stuck in this as you are."

Bonnie chuckles.

"Yeah, but the difference is with a mortal, them leaving me wouldn't be on them. With you...you leave me as soon as she tugs on your leash. And you'd be gone even faster the second that she decides that she wants you back. Which is worse, because like you said, we're both stuck in this. At least with them I know that it wasn't exactly their choice."

Stefan frowns watching as she speeds away before he can even respond. Turning around when he feels someone standing behind him.

"You never told her?" Elena asks but it comes out as more of a statement as she looks up at him when he finally turns back around.

"You asked me not to tell anyone. So I didn't." Stefan responds turning back around to go up the stairs to the room he claimed for the time being. Leaving Elena standing there watching his retreating figure before turning to the front door. Debating on who she should go after first.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline enters the Mystic Grill with a contrite look on her face. She had lost her temper, granted she still felt that Damon deserved it but she thought she had come to terms with their past. And she was doing a fairly good job at ignoring him but he just kept pushing and she had finally snapped. She thought she could control herself but as soon as Bonnie killed him she found herself wishing that she had got to him first. She nearly punched a wall, six hundred years and he still had this...control over her. The only thing that stops her is hearing someone call her name, and she paints a smile on her face and lifts her hand to wave at the group of cheerleaders lingering at the pool table where several football players were basically having a pissing contest.

"Come on Care." One of the cheerleaders calls out to her, an eager smile on their face.

Caroline twists her lips briefly contemplating it. Initially she came here to be alone but when she senses their anxiousness she decides to throw them a bone and starts to walk over to them. When she and her friends enrolled in school, they didn't think anyone would even look twice at them but they had been wrong. With the exception of Rebekah, everyone couldn't seem to get enough. This particular group had spent weeks trying to get her attention and she can't say that she doesn't like it. Though she feels a small twinge when she overhears one of them comment,

"She wouldn't even look twice at us if she were here with one of the others."

Caroline wants to be able to deny it but she knows that they're right. Bonnie, Stefan and Elena were her friends―despite her history with the latter. They had known each other for years, lifetimes really, so of course they took priority. And none of them were very open on taking in outsiders considering the nature for their homecoming. She on the other hand was a people person, she couldn't help herself. She's just about to greet them when one of the football players sidesteps her, a cocky grin on his face. Her first instinct is to grab his head and force him out of her way but she stops herself knowing that that probably wouldn't go over too well. Though as Caroline stares at him she notices that something is off and she has to actually put effort into maintaining a neutral expression on her face. She thought she had found out all of the supernaturals in this town but she figures that she had overlooked him being as though this was the first time she had even spared him a second glance.

"Can I help you?" Caroline asks when he does nothing but stare at her.

"I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

If it weren't for the slight increase of his heartbeat she just might have actually believed him.

"Oh come now Tyler," Caroline turns to see Rebekah dropping her bag next to the others currently occupying an otherwise empty booth before she strolls over to join the rest of the girls "you can do better than that. Caroline is all you've been talking about for the past week. No need to lie to the girl."

Caroline folds her lips seeing his face go red at the revelation. If Rebekah were just a little less annoying, she could actually see herself being friends with the girl. Afterall Bonnie seemed to like her so she couldn't see herself having much of a choice then to at least put up with her. It was the least she could do, Bonnie had put up with countless people she had befriended over the years.

"Ex girlfriend?" Caroline asks in a low voice.

"Something like that." He mutters looking at the girl in question who wiggles her fingers at him before turning to one of the girls who laughs at something that she says after their brief exchange.

Caroline nods "Well, now that that's out in the open do you have another approach or is that the only thing you had planned to say to me?"

Tyler raises his eyebrows, frowning when he hears several muffled laughs at his continued silence.

Caroline grins and looks over his shoulder at the girls who are looking at her with various expressions ranging from amusement to shock to impressed. Leading her to believe that he was the one that had everyone tripping over themselves to get his attention and she internally frowns. Personally she thought that that was the blonde haired guy with baby blues that nearly matched her own. When that crosses her mind she turns to look for him, smiling when she sees him staring at her before quickly looking away clearing his throat.

"Caroline?"

Caroline immediately turns around thankful for the interruption until she sees who called her and she turns back to face the girls who all look visibly disappointed with the exception of Rebekah who seems to be waiting to see how this will play out.

"How about I see you guys at tryouts? That's tomorrow, right?" She asks looking around, returning the various smiles she gets as they all nod and voice their confirmation. And with that she nods and turns on her heel walking over to where Elena is standing after giving a sympathetic look to Tyler who still looks embarrassed.

"Hey." Elena breathes "Can we talk?"

"Did something happen?"

"No," Elena quickly shakes her head seeing the panic in her eyes "I just thought that it was time that we tried to get back to normal. Or at least clear the air." She mutters seeing the annoyed look she receives in response.

Caroline stares at her for a moment before agreeing and sliding into the empty booth to her left, watching as Elena does the same. It was either deal with Elena or deal with Rebekah, at least with Elena she could drink without getting a dirty look.

"So," The blonde waves her hand when Elena only stares at her.

"About what happened with Damon," Elena starts "I didn't mean to make you think that I agreed with him or that I was mad that you bit him or anything like that."

Caroline looks at her curiously wondering where this was coming from.

"And as for what happened the last time I saw you I…" she trails off "I don't have an excuse for that. I just acted on impulse when I shouldn't have even saw that as an option."

Caroline chuckles "Are you saying that because it didn't work or because you think that that's what I want to hear?"

Elena frowns "Caroline I said that I was sorry."

"And now I'm saying that I don't believe you." Caroline counters "I'm not one of your boyfriends, you can't just stare at me with those doe eyes and give me some half assed apology and just expect me to forgive you."

"Caroline-"

"You want my forgiveness?"

Elena nods.

" _Earn_ it." Caroline growls, watching as Elena flinches in response.

Elena starts to ask her how, but a waitress with long brown hair chooses that moment to come up to them sliding two menus in front of them with a fake smile on her face before walking away. Fighting a smile when she sees that like herself, Caroline has skipped the food choices and gone straight for the alcohol menu.

* * *

"The hallucinations must have already started to kick in." Damon mutters when he walks into the kitchen greeted with the sight of a half naked Bonnie Bennett with her back turned towards him as she raids the freezer.

Bonnie grins upon hearing Damon's comment, deciding on the pint of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, waltzing over to the drawers to get a spoon before hopping up on one of the stools placed at the island.

"Care is forcing me to tryout for the cheer team with her tomorrow." She rolls her eyes as she removes the lid, spooning a glob of ice cream in her mouth.

"So you're prepping by indulging on something that's going to go straight to your ass?"

"I said I was going to tryouts because Caroline is making me, I never said I was going because I want to." she reminds him, ignoring the latter of his comment "I doubt that they'll chose me anyway. Caroline and Elena are the ones they really want."

"We both know Caroline will pull the 'We're a packaged deal.' card if they snub you."

Bonnie stares at him and then closes her eyes knowing that he's right.

"Besides," he continues "they need someone with rhythm on that team."

Bonnie scrunches her nose.

"I had to play guardian to Stefan and I saw them practicing. It's not like I just came to watch the show."

Bonnie gives him a look but decides to not comment.

"Speaking of guardians," he takes the stool opposite of her "who are you using?"

"My latest descendant." she answers knowing that he's fully aware of all of the women in her line "Well, the one that's old enough to act as my guardian."

"Sheila?" He smiles.

"If you touch her I will claw your eyes out. I'm not kidding." She warns when he smirks in response.

"How did you manage that? She hates vampires just as much as the others."

"Because witches look after their own. And despite being a vampire, I am one of their own. Plus, Sheila likes me." She smiles.

"Hmph." Damon looks at her, the corner of his mouth quirking upwards.

Bonnie narrows her eyes at him, deciding to pay her a visit later, knowing that she doesn't want to hear whatever that may have meant out of his mouth.

"So, what is it like?"

Damon looks at her.

"Getting bit."

"It hurts like hell, it feels like someone is slowly draining the life out of me. I'm not sure about the hallucinations, maybe Caroline was just kidding."

Bonnie looks down.

"What?" Damon frowns.

"She wasn't." Bonnie admits.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I saw it first hand."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Your pain is my aesthetic." Bonnie grins at him, laughing when he looks at her as if _he_ were dealing with a child.

"Well?" Damon looks at her wanting to know what to expect.

"Well it started like how you described it. But then it just goes downhill from there. Sweating, bursts of madness, picturing people from your past that aren't really there...they taunt you and if you treated them bad enough they do to you what you did to them. It gets to the point where you're willing to put yourself out of your misery. But since there's only one way you can actually die…"

"Is it permanent?"

"No, eventually it will just stop."

"How…"

"Stefan went after the wrong person and Caroline brought him to me. I tried to help him but by the time I found the cure, he had already healed."

"Why didn't I know about this?"

"Did you ask him? The only time I even hear from you is when you need help, in situations like this or when we accidently bump into each other. Otherwise you're just like Elena."

"Don't compare me to Elena."

Bonnie raises an eyebrow but otherwise goes back to what she came downstairs to do in the first place, mind her own business and eat in peace.

"We don't talk about this tomorrow." Damon says after seeing that Bonnie doesn't push, only continuing when she nods.

"But before I start, I want to know why Stefan got to visit _Bonnieland_ before I did."

Bonnie looks at him what was originally supposed to be disgust but ends up being a reluctant smile, "Damon,"

"Bonnie,"

Bonnie bites her bottom lip and looks down, listening for the younger Salvatore before deciding that she doesn't care, it wasn't like it wasn't anything that he didn't know. Damon would have probably told him whatever she said anyway. After that crosses her mind she wonders why she was even agreeing to this in the first place when she could just go to Elena if she really wanted to know why they didn't seem to be in a good place. Eventually she shrugs it off, she would never admit it but she actually enjoyed exchanging stories with Damon. If he wasn't so...him she might even consider being friends with him. But then there was Caroline, and she would never do that to her. Moments between her and Damon could only be fleeting. If that.

* * *

Four and half drinks, a barely touched plate of hot wings and four one hundred dollar bills slipped to the brunette waitress later Caroline and Elena were starting to feel a small buzz wondering what was in the Grill's stash taking their age and tolerance into account.

"Just to be clear, we're still at level one." Caroline says.

"I know you're not that easy Caroline." Elena says before closing her eyes at her choice of words, an apology on her lips until she's left stunned when Caroline starts to laugh. Eventually she figures it's the alcohol but decides to not comment, tensing when Caroline suddenly stops, all humor leaving her features and she starts to ask what happened until she sees Kol sitting next to the blonde and when she turns her head she sees Niklaus sliding into the empty space next to her. And she briefly contemplates calling Bonnie but decides against it knowing that she's probably the last person she wants to talk to at the moment.

"Kol, Klaus," Elena greets them.

"Elena," Kol nods while Klaus does nothing but grin at Caroline who takes the straw out of her glass and places it on a napkin, draining the remainder of her drink, doing the same to Elena's before pulling out her phone,

"Oh, wow. Would you look at the time, I have to be anywhere but here." Caroline says looking at Kol waiting for him to move so she can make her exit.

"Relax Caroline. We don't care if you were drinking, we just wanted to come and say hi."

Caroline looks at Kol as if she were asking if he honestly expected her to buy that.

"Okay, let me start off by saying that I don't care if you decide to play police. We're not on good enough terms for you to even want to fake pleasantries and I know that _I'm_ not the one that you even want to talk to and Bonnie isn't here. Speaking of Bonnie, she's perfectly capable of choosing who she wants to give the time of day to on her own. Trying to get me to play matchmaker will only push her away more. So you can continue to waste both of our time or you can move and let me leave so you can find another way to go after Bonnie on your own because I'm not getting involved. As for you," she turns to Klaus "I don't know why you're here and to be quite honest, I don't care." She smiles, moving away from Kol standing up on her seat carefully stepping on the table and hopping down, flipping her hair over her shoulders as she walks towards the door without looking back.

Elena slowly turns her gaze back to the two men that are still sitting at the table that exchange glances before turning back to her.

"Has she always been like that?" Kol asks breaking the silence.

Elena scowls not liking what his tone is implying.

"Blunt." He clarifies picking up on her disapproval.

"Oh," Elena says "yes. That has been the one constant over the years, and it looks like it's never going away. Subtlety has never been her strong suit." She adds quietly.

"At least everyone knows what they're getting into."

"That's one way to look at it." Elena agrees wishing that Caroline hadn't stolen her drink.

"By the alcohol, I'm assuming that you got Vicki." Klaus states.

"Who?" Elena frowns.

"Tall, brunette, kind of-" He stops when he hears someone clearing their throat.

They all turn their attention to the source of the interruption seeing the girl in question glaring at Klaus before looking back to Elena a genuine smile on her face.

Seeing the expectation in her eyes Elena smiles and says that she's leaving but pulls another hundred dollar bill out of her wallet handing it over to her after Klaus moves to let her leave, telling her to keep the change as her tip.

"If you back off for two days and then try again she'll probably be less hostile." Elena advises turning her attention back to Klaus after Vicki leaves "Unlike Caroline I have no problem interfering in love lives. Except for Bonnie." Elena adds quickly when she sees Kol's lips part "Apparently I've done enough in regards to hers. But" she turns back to Klaus "if you hurt her we'll find out just how durable wolves are. Your bite can't kill me." she informs with a smile, watching the smug look in his eyes quickly fade away "Have a nice night boys." She says over her shoulder.

"And the reason Bekah doesn't like her is because…"

"She's full of backhanded comments and threats." Kol comments as if the answer was obvious.

"Exactly." Rebekah drawls as she forces her way into the booth taking Kol's seat "So what are we going to do about them?"

"I think we should wait until Bonnie proposes her plan about Dahlia. Finn says that Freya is on our side, so we should just see how this plays out." Kol shrugs.

"If you think for one second that I'm going to allow you to use me to get closer to Bonnie or Caroline" she adds glancing at Klaus "after what you did, then you're just as mad as Dahlia."

Klaus smiles and turns to Kol.

"Donovan is just as bad as the Lockwood boy." Kol responds despondently.

"Maybe even worse." Klaus adds glancing over to Matt who is currently escorting a brunette out of the Grill.

* * *

"We just ran into each other and one thing led to another. It wasn't like we were in a committed relationship or anything. It just happened." Bonnie shrugs.

Damon looks at Bonnie.

"I'm not giving you details about me and Stefan." Bonnie frowns seeing that he isn't satisfied with her answer.

"If I want details I'll ask Stefan when his humanity is off." he replies bluntly "What I want is for you to not give me a bullshit answer because _you_ don't do casual flings. That's not you. So-"

"My humanity was off, okay?" Bonnie blurts watching him blink "I was with this guy and someone tracked him down and killed him to get back at me in retaliation for the time we all went against that family of hunters in the fifteen hundreds. I couldn't handle it so I turned it off. Caroline tried to get me to turn it back on but she couldn't get through so she called Stefan. Something happened with the latest of her line and she had to leave and after a while Stefan decided that torture wasn't the way to go so he took me out after having a witch make it so my powers were repressed and a binding spell so I couldn't run away from him. We talked, and it got a little deep so I pretended that my emotions were fighting their way back in and he actually bought it. At first he kept pushing me away but after a while he stopped fighting and…" she trails off "When he woke up...I'm assuming the next morning...I was gone." She slowly looks back up to Damon to see him staring back at her with a look of pure disbelief "Believe it or not I'm not the stuck up priss I used to be."

"Well clearly."

Bonnie rolls her eyes.

"But that doesn't explain the two hundred years ago or the two weeks ago."

"I said I tricked him, I never said he wasn't good." Bonnie grins at the face he makes in response.

"So if Caroline had sent me…" He lets his sentence trail off as a smile spreads across his face.

"Doubt it." Bonnie replies.

"Keep telling yourself that." Damon smirks, before groaning when he feels his wound start to throb sending a wave a pain throughout his body.

Bonnie puts the lid back on the ice cream and places it back into the freezer, tossing the spoon into the sink, before walking over to where Damon is tossing him over her shoulder.

"Bon,"

"By the way your eyes just glazed over, it's time to lock you up." She says tightening her grip when she feels him start to squirm "It's for your own good, Damon." She smiles as she starts to walk down the stairs, frowning when she sees a lock on the door to the basement, without giving it another thought she breaks it and pushes the door open stopping right in her tracks nearly dropping Damon when she sees a single coffin right in the middle of the room.

"What?" He wheezes feeling the tension in her body, frowning when she wordlessly puts him down, watching intently as she walks over to the coffin to open it only to see that it's sealed shut.

Bonnie takes a deep breath and places a hand on the coffin until she no longer feels energy flowing into her body, blinking several times before going completely immobile when she sees the contents.

Not understanding her reaction he walks over to the now open coffin and nearly laughs at what he sees.

"Now I know I'm hallucinating."

"No, you're not." Bonnie breathes keeping her eyes on the still form in the coffin, taking in their grey skin, dated clothes and the silver dagger protruding from the left side of their chest.

Damon frowns, "But we all got rid of those things as soon as she tried to take us out."

"Yeah but Caroline said she never found Elena's." Bonnie informs him watching the frown that appears on his face "We only got to destroy ours."

"Elena wouldn't-"

"Think about it Damon." Bonnie looks at him "There was only _one_ person that wasn't there when we melted them and tossed the remains in the ocean. And Elena wasn't happy when she found out that a certain someone" she briefly glances at the coffin "killed the creator of the daggers and burned the page in the Grimoire. And _Elena_ was the one that was supposed to destroy the remaining white oak. When I went to check, it still stood."

Damon starts to try to find some excuse but he sighs when he comes up blank, not that it matters because when he finally turns back to Bonnie he sees that her eyes are locked on something behind him. When he turns around he sees both Caroline and Elena standing at the threshold.

Damon steps to the side when Caroline starts to walk in his direction, gasping when she sees the body and immediately turns back to the brunette seemingly frozen in her spot,

"Elena, please tell me that you didn't." Caroline whispers when Elena only stares back at them with guilt clear in her eyes.

* * *

Rebekah sits crossed legged in her room going through the information she's managed to get her hands on about the newest additions to her town. Her jaw dropping when she comes across a certain tidbit,

"There's one missing." She breathes.

Without giving it another thought she immediately gets up and runs to where she knows her brothers are all currently gathered.

Elijah, Finn, Klaus and Kol immediately stop talking when their sister bursts through the door of Elijah's study where they were having...a talk about the female members of the Originals.

"There's one missing." Rebekah says through ragged breaths.

"What?" Kol frowns.

"There's six, we've only met five." She says once she's caught her breath.

"You say it like that's a bad thing." Kol looks at her as she walks further into the room "The less we have to deal with the better."

"Six?" Elijah asks ignoring his brother's comment.

Rebekah nods in confirmation.

"Elena said that they'd all be at the Lockwood property where they were keeping Kol but there was only five."

"So where's the other one?" Klaus frowns.

"The bloody hell if I know." Rebekah responds before she can stop herself ignoring the scandalized looks she receives from Finn and Elijah. She would never understand why they insisted on that she continued to behave as she would have if their parents were still alive. If she hadn't had any memories of them at all she would have thought that they were actually decent people that lived by the standards they expected their children to meet.

"Maybe Dahlia already started without us." Kol offers, not in the least bit bothered by Rebekah's comment.

"No, Freya would have told me." Finn shuts down his theory.

"You have so much faith in Freya-"

"Well she is my sister, so that may have something to do with it." Finn cuts Klaus off tired of hearing him speak ill of her, especially since he never does so when she's around.

"Ooh, look at you Finn. A decent rebuttal." Kol teases.

"We don't have time for this, we need to find the other."

"And do what?" Klaus questions looking back to Rebekah.

"Maybe they don't want anything to do with them, we might be able to get them on our side and end them."

"Why are you so against them, they don't come off as nearly as bad as you made them out to be. In fact that Elena girl seems to be the opposite of what you described her as." Elijah steps in.

"Well there goes Elijah's pick." Kol mutters, looking at his older brother when his glass slips out of his hand, the contents spilling onto his lap.

"Honestly, I don't know why I even bother." Rebekah mutters turning on her heel to leave.

"Rebekah, wait."

She reluctantly turns around.

"If they didn't have Bonnie, I'm sure we wouldn't have a problem but even you were a bit shaken when you saw what she did."

"All she did was siphon the spell away. It's actually not that hard."

"Except, a lot of power went into that spell to take them down, and it didn't even work on her or the blonde-"

"Caroline." Klaus interrupts Elijah's volleying with Rebekah.

"Caroline," Elijah repeats with a smirk looking at Klaus before turning back to Rebekah "we don't even know what she is."

"She's a witch."

"You can't be both at the same time, it's against the rules."

"Well then how would you explain why she's able to practice?"

"She did say that she was a different kind of monster." Klaus reminds them.

Rebekah pulls her phone out of her pocket when it starts ring, only answering because of the name,

"April, now is really not the time."

"Then that's perfect, because I'm not April."

"Caroline?"

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that I'm on speaker by now so I'll just make this quick. If you want your friend back, she'll be right here waiting for you. I'm sure you know where we're staying, so I won't bother with directions. You have ten minutes before April here starts losing teeth. You can only bring one of your brothers. If I hear more than two heartbeats April will lose her's. Are we clear?"

They all flinch when they hear a bloodcurdling scream.

"Before you all get in a tissy, I just showed her my true face. We've been here for a month and not only have you not given her a crash course on vampires but you haven't even started the poor thing on vervain. I'm guessing you know what my next course of action will be if I don't get an answer in the next three sec-"

"Yes! Yes, I understand."

Caroline sighs "I don't like being interrupted but since I _did_ just take your friend I'll let it slide. However for all that panic, I don't hear any of you moving." She lilts.

Rebekah looks at Klaus who frowns but eventually takes the hint and gets up.

"There we go." Caroline says hearing two sets of footsteps "Time starts now."


	4. Chapter 4

Rebekah was on edge. She walked around the next two weeks mad at the world. The only person not on the receiving end of one of her outbursts was April who had no memory what took place after Caroline took her as her hostage. She felt horrible but it was a necessary evil. The girl would refuse to step out of her home if she kept her memories of the what happened.

Rebekah almost wished she had the luxury.

Everytime she closed her eyes she would see the body lying disturbingly still in a coffin, from the grey skin, the dagger protruding from the left side of their chest to the veins in plain sight on a face she had seen on a regular basis.

" _Come on Rebekah, I know we're ancient but it's not like twins weren't a thing until the twenty first century."_

Caroline's taunting words still rung in her ears.

Rage floods her as she remembers being forced to recite the spell that Bonnie guided her through topping it off with a drop of her blood onto the vampire's lips. Just to get April out of Caroline's grip, her vampire visage on full display as her fangs hovered over April's neck. A silent reminder of what would happen if she didn't do as she was told.

She thought bringing Klaus would maybe be of use considering the rumours of a werewolf bite being lethal to a vampire―which she found out to be true after seeing Damon with a gruesome wound on his neck, his body covered in sweat―but as soon as they stepped through the door both Elena and Stefan grabbed him and had him restrained in chains. If it were under different circumstances she would have laughed at someone finally knocking him off of his self appointed pedestal but without him being free she was at a severe disadvantage. For some reason magick didn't work on Bonnie or Caroline.

The only highlight of the night was seeing the formerly absent member of the Originals wiping the floor with Elena. Rebekah expected the vampire to attack her on sight but instead she merely thanked her before speeding over to Elena and had her mirror image by her throat against the wall speaking in a language she didn't understand, before sending her sister flying through the opposite wall in the next breath.

And now she had yet another one strutting around as if she owned the place. Wasting no time in 'enrolling' in school under the guise of her parents finally finding out that she was just pretending to go to school along with Elena. And her classmates just accepted it. Falling all over themselves to get yet another one of them to look their way. But just like the others she stuck to their little inner circle. _Idiots._ Rebekah thought as she continued to take her frustration out on a punching bag.

"You're doing it wrong." Bonnie says watching Rebekah trying and failing to release her anger. She was just on her way out with Caroline, Katherine and Elena when she felt a wave of anger hit her leaving her stunned at the force of it. Abruptly stopping mid step, following the pull until she found herself in the weight room. Watching along with her friends as Rebekah nearly knocked the bag off of the chain, leaving them to exchange glances, only agreeing to leave Bonnie when she convinces them that she'll take care of it. Though she still feels their presence a few feet away.

Rebekah tenses suddenly feeling the jolt in the back of her neck that lets her know that she's in the presence of another supernatural and quickly turns around letting out a breath of relief when she sees Bonnie staring back at her from the doorway. A dufflebag over the hybrid's shoulder with a hint of a smile on her lips. Wondering why she feels relief considering she was one of the contributers to her anger in the first place. Rebekah starts to ask her what's she's talking about but Bonnie cuts her off.

"Come on." Bonnie says pushing herself off of the doorway.

Rebekah watches as the hybrid turns on her heel, starting to walk away. After a brief internal debate she grabs her bag and starts to follow after her. Walking side by side in a comfortable silence as they make their way towards the front doors of the school. Rolling her eyes when several cheerleaders look shocked as she walks next to the Original across the parking lot while Bonnie merely waves at Caroline, Katherine and Elena who are making their way to their cars after returning the raven colored hair girl's wave. Only the latter of which sending Rebekah a small smile before turning back to her sister reluctantly handing over the keys going to the passenger side of the car.

"Do you drive?"

"Yes." Rebekah answers skeptically, narrowing her eyes at Bonnie once she hands her her keys and goes to the passenger side of her car after unlocking it.

"I figured you'd be less afraid if you drove." Bonnie answers her unvocalized question once the blonde slides behind the wheel "And after the way Tiki was underminding you the whole time during practice, just reminded me why I didn't want to go through with this in the first place."

Rebekah smiles and starts the car, waving to the girls as she drives out of the parking lot before turning to Bonnie "So this is out of pitty because you finally realized your social ranking?"

"No, this is because I realized how close you are to losing your shit. Make a left up here." She directs pointing to the light.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're ticking. A ticking witch is never a good thing."

Rebekah sighs, not wanting to admit it, lately she had found herself inadvertantly using her powers. Especially whenever her brothers poked fun at her, which has worked in her favor considering they've backed off as of late.

"You think vampires are bad, a witch reaching their boiling point is ten times worse."

"You would know." Rebekah snarks before apologizing and following her next given directions.

"It's fine." Bonnie assures, feeling the young witch's wariness when they come to a dead end.

Despite her better judgement she gets out of the car and follows Bonnie as she weaves through the trees until their deep into the woods, farther than she has ever dared to go.

"Okay," Bonnie says as she turns on her heel to face Rebekah after listening for any signs of life "On your knees."

"Excuse me?" Rebekah frowns looking at Bonnie as if she's just striked her.

"Get on your knees." Bonnie repeats motioning towards the ground.

"Rebekah," Bonnie smiles when the young witch frowns at her though she picks up a hint of fear "if I wanted to hurt you I wouldn't do it out here. It's tacky and tasteless, not to mention disrespectful. Plus, I don't kill witches unless it's a mercy killing or it's purely accidental...or necessary to my own survival...but only as a last resort." She rushes to get out remembering the reason for her homecoming.

Rebekah takes a step back and flits her eyes to the way they came.

"Here," Bonnie sighs holding her hand out for Rebekah to take, dropping her mental guard so the blonde can read her "But be warned, I'm not exactly the nicest of us all. Believe it or not that would be Elena. She has the least blood on her hands out of everyone."

Rebekah flinches, knowing from what she saw from the brunette that that wasn't the most reassuring and stops just shy of Bonnie's hand in favor of nodding and taking a deep breath before doing as she was told.

Bonnie frowns but shakes it off, putting her guard back up "Now dig your knees, hands and feet into the soil." she says waiting until Rebekah follows her instructions before handing out more "Close your eyes and think of all your troubles, worries, things that make or have made you angry…" she waits until a scowl settles across Rebekah's features "Now breathe out."

Rebekah lets out a shaky breath and feels a strong wave of magick run through her body but comes to a screeching halt at the tips of her fingers, her eyes snapping open, chest heaving at the power coursing through her veins.

"You have to stop holding onto it. Let it go. It's just you and me out here."

Bonnie waits for a moment but feels her eyes go wide when she sees everything around them start to die, figuring that she helped the poor girl right on time. Hearing animals in the distance make various sounds of fear as they all flee. Afterwards turning back to Rebekah, nearly losing her balance when she feels the earth beneath her feet tremble who looks startled at what she's done. To which Bonnie smiles, it had been a long time since she had come across a witch that was actually sensitive to nature. So she bends down and places her hand to the ground until the grass turns into a plush green, watching as everything comes back to life, going as far as to add a few flowers.

"...how? How did you-"

"You have to be able to live with your own turmoil before you can repair damage that another's creates." She answers, thankful that she did this instead of waving it off.

"So in other words, I'll never be able to do that."

"Not with that attitude."

"My mother…"

"Your mother has nothing to do with who you are or what you can do." Bonnie cuts her off "For a witch to be happy she has to focus on herself. As a witch you are a servant to nature which means you have to do your part to help maintain the balance. But that does not necessarily mean that you have to go out of your way to do so. Just because an abomination crosses your path doesn't make you the one that has to kill it. There's a villain in every story."

"But you just said-"

"Answer me this Rebekah, just what exactly have Caroline, Katherine, Elena, Damon or I done to you to make you want to end us?"

"Stand with Stefan."

Bonnie cracks a smile but quickly sobers "Then you have made yourself a villain in someone else's story.

"So you're telling me that if I had just focused on Stefan I wouldn't be a 'villain'?"

"I'm not saying that, but just know that Stefan is our family just as much as your brothers are your's."

"Well typically you don't sleep with your family." Rebekah remarks.

"That's true." Bonnie concedes.

"Then why do you call him that?"

"That's a story for another time." Bonnie deflects turning on her heel starting to walk back in the way from which they came after summoning her keys from Rebekah's hand.

"You constantly call vampire's abominations." Rebekah says as she starts to walk after her "Why?"

"I'm a witch." Bonnie answers simply.

"You're a hybrid." Rebekah corrects her.

"Which means I am a witch."

"But you're also a vampire." Rebekah nearly growls growing frustrated.

"It was not by choice. Being both...I'm constantly in a war with myself. Vampires and witches are natural enemies. Being a vampire after being brought up as a witch...having the laws of nature drilled in your head, the oath of witches protecting their own. Having a vampire's urges; the hunger, not feeling remorse for killing but the shame of liking it. The only Spirits that talk to me are those of my bloodline and the witches that I saved over the years. Witches that cross my path are torn between awe and fear or blatant disgust. It's nothing that I wish on anyone. Given the choice of being one or the other," Bonnie pauses "I'd chose to be a witch every single time. Being a vampire has it's perks; strength, agility, healing, but I'm frozen in time as a seventeen year old girl with the mentality of a grown woman. And there's no way to escape it."

"If you want to escape it, why are you here?"

"My friends don't, and I have no right to make them see this as I do."

"Well there has to be a way for you to die, otherwise why else would you be here."

"That's a good question." Bonnie smiles.

"One that you won't answer."

"One that I want you to find out on your own."

"Why are you helping me?"

"You lost the woman that was supposed to guide you and teach you. Dahlia and Freya...their ways are ruled by their feelings. That's always a witch's downfall. You do not deserve that fate."

Rebekah frowns stopping at the edge of the woods watching as Bonnie continues to go to the car, realization dawning on her.

"You want to be my mentor."

"I don't want you to share their fate." Bonnie corrects turning to face her, though she wouldn't protest if Rebekah ever asked her for help.

"So that's your solution?" Rebekah says staring at her in disbelief "To kill us?"

"We have walked this earth for a thousand years. Eliminating those who actually posed a threat to our survival. Considering that...don't you think we would have taken your lives by now?"

Rebekah takes a step back.

"As of right now, you and Kol are the only ones that actually have a chance against us. However unlike your sister and your aunt, neither of you would go through the lengths that are necessary to kill us. They will literally die trying, we don't need to lift a hand to them, their hatred will be what takes their lives."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I don't want you to share their fate." Bonnie repeats.

"But if they're going to die trying to kill you then there's no point in you being here."

"Dahlia and Freya aren't going to die trying to take our lives, they're going to die bringing back the ones that other than you and Kol actually have a fighting chance. The ones that will make you join them. Dahlia knows that she's going to die, your sister doesn't. And even if she did, I don't think that would stop her. The only one that wants everyone to be free of her more than you and your brothers is Freya. They have Esther and Mikael's bodies, Freya is out gathering what Dahlia needs in order to do the spell. She's going to chanel Freya's power with her own and they'll both die from exertion. Esther and Mikael will come back to life. And when they are resurrected, Esther is going to turn Mikael into a hunter and take his power as her own."

"I would take care of things on my own but they are heavily protected by spell after spell after spell and everytime I try to locate Esther and Mikael I'm hit with this darkness that leaves me drained, the last time I tried I was almost desiccated. If I weren't this" she motions towards her body "I wouldn't even be here to talk to you about this. As for why I'm telling you about your parents, they're not going to be the people that you remember. Esther is so far gone and Mikael is as heartless and ruthless as ever."

"So that's what this was?" Rebekah narrows her eyes "You bring me out here to help me so you could try to convince me to go against my family?"

"If that's what you gathered after everything I've just told you then you haven't been listening to a word I just said." Bonnie says, her eyes weary, her voice somewhere between pity and resignation.

"It's getting late," Bonnie says after glancing up towards the sky noticing the splinters of red and orange starting to clash with the blue "I'll drive you home."

* * *

"So how did your date with Bex go?" Katherine asks the next morning, taking the seat next to Bonnie stealing a piece of fruit from her plate.

Bonnie rolls her eyes at the question "It wasn't a date but I don't think it went well. I tried to warn her Dahlia and her plan but I don't think she believed me."

"Well even you have to admit it does sound like bullshit."

"Not saying that it is." Katherine rushes to get out when Bonnie looks at her "But it does sound a little farfetched."

"When have I ever been wrong?"

"Never," Katherine admits reluctantly "Maybe you should try her brother." She suggests.

"If I do that then she'll really think that I'm making the whole thing up. Besides, you know I can't go there."

"Actually I don't. You're single, he's single. From what Care's told me, he's made it clear that he is interested and you're using Stefan and your age difference as an excuse. Which really aren't all that valid. The only one that you could actually date going by that standard would _be_ Stefan. Who for some reason you won't give in. I mean honestly Bonnie…"

Bonnie frowns when she suddenly stops talking, only to roll her eyes when she looks up to see Stefan strolling into the kitchen, a hint of a smirk on his face.

"I thought you were anti Stefan now, what happened?" Bonnie questions despite him taking the seat across from her.

"I am but I have to admit that you guys don't exactly look bad together, and he's all the girls talk about." Katherine follows her lead "They'd kill to be in your spot, apparently you were the only one to manage to get two words out of him. Before you he only talked to Caroline in passing but once he found out that you two were friends he finally decided to take her bait. Plus, I'm working on Sister Dearest right now. Stefan requires more effort and I need to strike when he least expects it." She says holding his gaze, smiling when she sees the brief flash of wariness in his eyes.

"I said I was sorry."

"And I said that it wasn't enough, you helped her put me down. An apology isn't going to cut it this time." She growls, slipping into her vampire visage.

Bonnie sighs.

"You massacred a whole town."

"After they tried to kill me." she defends herself "And don't try to play the moral card with me. It's not like you haven't done worse, you're the reason we're even back here in the first place."

Stefan stares at her for a moment then feels the fight start to leave his body, simply nodding his head as he says, "You're right,"

Katherine stares at him for a moment then huffs and looks away. One thousand years and he's _still_ no fun to fight with, at least Elena and Damon kept her entertained for a good two minutes before she grew bored.

"How are you adjusting?" Bonnie asks attempting to diffuse the tension.

"It's not much to adjust too. Aside from the technology and clothes, it's not all that different."

"I didn't mean to the time." Bonnie says, remembering Elena admitting that she had a witch make adjustments to the dagger. While they were merely put to a dreamless sleep, Katherine was fully aware of everything. Simply paralyzed feeling her body start to dry out. And while Bonnie would agree that that was cruel but compared to Katherine having a witch hex her sister, she probably would have tried to do worse.

"I'd tell you but you made it clear you wanted nothing to do when it came to our little rivalry, besides, she's upstairs. Can't risk her hearing it, wouldn't be much fun if she knew what to expect. Isn't that right Damon?"

Bonnie grins hearing him agree from the second floor.

"Okay, so…" Caroline stops when she senses the tension between Katherine and Stefan, and looks at Bonnie as if she were waiting for an explanation.

"Katherine was letting her anger out―or trying to―but Stefan is...Stefan." Bonnie answers with a shrug, stabbing another piece of fruit with her fork "Do you want to ride with me, Kat and Elena? I don't feel like driving today."

"Yeah, sure." Caroline shrugs "I don't really feel like doing it either, the girls kind of drained me yesterday. Speaking of which, did you help Rebekah?" She asks still feeling guilty about her actions.

"With her anger? Yes, With her suspicion of us? No," Bonnie answers rising from her seat, plate in hand as she walks over to the sink depositing it.

"What if we talk to her brothers?"

Bonnie turns to face the blonde "You'd willingly talk to Klaus?" She raises an eyebrow exchanging a look with Katherine who looks just as amused.

"I never said I'd take Klaus." she quickly shuts Bonnie down "I was thinking Finn or Elijah."

"Elijah is already in a bit of a love triangle that he doesn't even know he's at the center of." Bonnie smiles looking at Katherine remembering the look on her face when she saw Rebekah getting into the passenger seat of the warlock's car. And Elena's blatant staring at him whenever he's in her vicinity.

"Oh?" Caroline looks to Katherine who rolls her eyes getting up from her seat making a point of ignoring the two as she exits the room "She works fast. Does Elena know?"

"Why do you think they've been extra catty lately?" Bonnie looks at Caroline who grins falling into step with the witch leaving Stefan alone in the kitchen, missing the frown Elena is wearing as she takes the last step having heard the latter of the conversation.

* * *

Katherine waits until her sister along with Bonnie and Caroline get out of the car before hitting the lock button, wondering how they all managed to fall into a line with Elena and herself at the end and Bonnie and Caroline in the middle. A small smirk on her face when she sees everyone around them has seemingly stopped what they're doing to watch them, winking at the guy that she has caught on more than one occasion staring at her during her AP English class that she allowed Caroline and Bonnie to wrangle her into taking with them. An eyebrow hiking in the air when she spots Stefan at the bottom of the steps talking to a couple of the football players, taken back by how far he's gone to commit to the roll but looks away from them as soon as they get within a few feet of the steps along with Tyler and Matt. Once they come to a stop she notices that Tyler is smiling at Caroline while Matt's eyes dart back and forth between her and Elena.

"Elena," Katherine points to her double, raising her hand as she says her own name.

"Right," he says looking embarrassed "sorry."

"Happens all of the time." Elena says glancing at Katherine whose attention has gone elsewhere. Following her line of sight to see Rebekah in the midst of getting out of a sleek black convertible. And before she can protest her sister is already walking in their direction, narrowing her eyes when she sees Elijah's eyes immediately go to her, forcing her features to remain neutral when the warlock greets her by her sister's name. Wondering how he even knew it was Katherine when Matt was still struggling to tell them apart and she was someone that he actually talked too for a month before Katherine even came into the picture.

Bonnie and Caroline exchange knowing looks before the former's attention is shifted elsewhere as Stefan walks until he's in front of her, a smirk on his face when he sees the hint of warning in her eyes but before she can protest he leans down and presses his lips to hers. Inwardly smiling when she doesn't protest to him deepening the kiss.

"Yeah, because we're all not right here and you're in front of the whole school." Caroline comments, raising an eyebrow at Bonnie when she gives everyone an apologetic look as she interlaces her fingers between Stefan's leading him away from everyone after murmering an apology. Seeing that Stefan looks just as taken back but quickly recovers.

"You're pushing it." Bonnie says when they're at her locker, her voice low enough so only he can hear.

"This is the only time where I can touch you and not end up with something getting broken, of course I'm going to take advantage of it while I can."

"What makes you think I won't make up for it when we get home?" Bonnie looks at him as she opens the metal door.

"You haven't so far." He points out.

"What did you say to Rebekah?" He asks when she only looks away from him at his response after spotting the blonde at her own locker.

"I told her about Dahlia's plan to bring back Mikael and Esther, I think she believes me but I don't think she's going to admit it or go against them."

"You expected her too?"

"No," Bonnie admits "but I don't want her to end up like them. She's one of the good ones, her family will only end up corrupting her."

"If they die at our hands for a second time, she's not going to be responsive to even tolerate us. None of them will."

"You're willing to die just so she can have her parents again?" Bonnie asks meeting his eyes. It wasn't that she was surprised that he would actually go through with dying so Rebekah could have her mother again. She knows that they're pretty much on the same page regarding the current threat on their lives. Unlike the others they were tired, if it was time for their lives to end then they'd accept it. As more as he would accept death knowing that everyone else would die as well.

Other than herself, Stefan was the only person that knew everything that she did in regards to Esther and Mikael's plans having been very careful in what she lets them know. The moment anyone else found out Stefan wasn't the only one that they were after, they'd rush in and end the entire Mikaelson line along with anyone who was ever associated with them just as a precaution.

"I don't want too but a determined witch is…"

"Bonnie,"

Bonnie blinks taken back by the accented voice realizing why Stefan stopped talking.

"I'll see you-"

"No, you can stay." Rebekah stops him "It's not like you won't end up finding out later anyway." she points out watching as he leans back against the row of lockers "I told my brothers what you said yesterday."

"Okay," Bonnie stares at her curiously waiting for her to go on.

"Finn said that you were right. He talked to Freya a few days ago and she told him that Dahlia sent her out to find some things that they needed for a spell."

"So you believe me now?"

"Not about everything but Elijah and Finn suggested that we should all meet to talk." Rebekah sighs when they both look at her as if they were waiting for her to go on "To go over terms and what we want in return if we're going to side with you and your friends. And you have to tell us _everything_ you know, not just what you want to share." Shifting on her feet when Bonnie turns to look at Stefan, the two seemingly having a silent conversation before they both turn back to her.

"We'll have to talk it over with everyone, but you'll have an answer by the end of the day." Bonnie replies "But if we agree, just know that it won't happen at your home. Not that we don't trust you-"

"No that's exactly why." a familiar voice steps in "There's no point in lying to her." Katherine shrugs when they all turn to look at her.

"The choice is up to Bonnie," Caroline says "whatever she thinks is best, I agree."

Bonnie turns to look at Stefan who nods then to Elena and Katherine the former of which nods automatically.

"Well, it's already four" Katherine starts when they all turn to her "and we all know that we don't care what Damon will have to say so...yeah, we'll meet you and your brothers." She cuts her eyes at Caroline when the blonde snickers.

"Maybe we should have the meeting on neutral ground." Bonnie suggests picking up on Rebekah's discomfort "After the last time she was at our home, I don't think she would want to come back." She goes on to explain when they all frown at her.

Rebekah jumps when they all suddenly turn to face her, looking down when she sees the flash of amusement in Katherine's eyes at her reaction.

"Yeah, fine. But by neutral grounds I think it should be in a public place, far away that no one will hear us but close enough that they'll see if they all try to kill us on spot."

"And here I thought I liked you better than your sister." Rebekah comments holding her ground when Katherine narrows her eyes at her "I'll tell my brothers and we'll have an answer by the end of the day." she says then looks to Bonnie as she says "Thank you."

"For what?" Bonnie frowns.

"I didn't wake up in the middle of the night due to a fire and my alarm clock is in tact." She mutters, smiling at the looks of shock on their faces with the exception of Bonnie who nods after the blonde tells her that she'll see them at practice.

"About that," Katherine starts when Rebekah turns the corner, a group of cheerleaders following after her trying to gather information on what she talked to them about and how she infiltrated their 'circle' "I'm not really into this whole cheerleading thing." a frown settling on her face when they all turn to her wearing matching looks of shock "We're already what everyone talks about, and I don't see the point in trying to fit in when we barely talk to anyone but each other anyway."

"No one said you had to hang out with us." Elena shrugs walking away before anyone can respond.


End file.
